The New Recruit
by BearClaws
Summary: There's word of a new arrival in Pontypandy, and it seems that there joining the fire service. While the townsfolk are busy preparing for the mystery arrival, Sam and Elvis have mystery of there own to solve. One revolving around a suspicious person who keeps calling Penny, and how secretive she and Steele are being... Set in between Series 4 and Series 5
1. Chapter 1: ' I'll Tell You Later'

'And...'

She twisted the screwdriver round,

'...There...'

Round it went again,

'...We...'

She quickly checked it was screwed on properly,

'...Go!'

Penny slid out from underneath Jupiter, and sat up. She snatched up the almost empty bottle of water that was sitting next to her, spat some black substance out, and began gulping it down. 'Great work, Penny!' Sam complimented, patting the red fire engine. Penny looked over, and took the bottle away from her mouth (it was now empty) 'Thanks!' She replied, opening her mouth and tipping the bottle out, trying to see if she could get a few more drips from it. 'What was that black stuff you spat out a few seconds ago?' Sam asked her, leaning on Jupiter. 'Oil' she told him, distracted as she tried (and failed) to get more water from the bottle. Sam raised his eyebrows, 'you didn't swallow any, right?' he asked, worry in his tone. 'Nah" Penny replied, wiping oil from her cheek. Sam sighed in relief, and then chuckled, 'you should probably wash up - your covered in oil!' Penny looked down at herself, 'yeah...'

'Finished, Morris?'

Sam and Penny looked around to see Station Officer Steele walking towards them, followed by Elvis Cridlington. 'Yes sir!' Penny announced, 'No more oil leaks for her!' She stepped aside, allowing Steele to crouch down and check. He stood up promptly, 'yes, well done Firefighter Morris' he praised her, Penny smiled. 'Now, do you have the... you know' He asked quietly, but they all heard. Penny nodded quickly, 'Yes sir, its in Venus - I'll be two seconds!' She was already halfway across the yard by the time she finished. 'Whats she getting?' Elvis asked nosily 'Nothing that concerns you, Cridlington' Steele retorted sternly, Sam decided not to expand on the topic. Penny came jogging back to them, holding some paperwork in her right hand, which had a glove on it. 'Here we are, sir' She said, handing it to him, "Ah, excellent!" Steele took it, "Whats with the... Steele gestured towards Penny's gloved hand 'didn't want to get it covered in oil' She told him. 'Yes, well, perhaps you should clean up' Station Officer Steele replied, looking down at the papers. 'Will do sir' She replied, and headed towards the fire station. Elvis tapped her on the shoulder as she passed him 'whats that all about?' he whispered, Sam listened in. Penny opened her mouth to reply, but Steele beat her to it - 'Firefighter Cridlington, when I say something is none of your business-' 'Sorry sir' Elvis apologized before he could finish, looking dejectedly at the ground. Steele glared at him 'We shall continue this conversation inside, Penny' Steele announced 'it won't take long' He assured her as he walked passed, the blonde firefighter followed. Penny turned and walked backwards, 'I'll tell you later' She mouthed, before turning around. 

**...**

'Elvis, what are you doing?'

Elvis whipped around to see Sam standing behind him with two cups of tea and a bottle of water tucked underneath his arm. 'Just checking in on Penny and Station Officer Steele' he told him, peering through the glass panes in the door that led to the Station Officer's office. Sam chuckled, and a drop of tea spilled one of the teacups. 'You've been 'checking in' on them for almost ten minutes' he said, 'What can they be doing that's interesting you so much?' 'Well, Steele was acting like it was something he didn't want us knowing about, so it must be something interesting' Elvis replied, not taking his eyes of Penny and Steele. 'Yeah, or something personal' Sam tried to reason, but Elvis had stopped paying attention, 'Oh, Oh! There standing up!' Elvis announced excitedly, Sam rolled his eyes at Elvis's over enthusiasm. 'Now there shaking hands!' he continued, 'Elvis get away from the door! your going to get in trouble!' Sam warned. 'Oh no, Penny's seen me!' Elvis gasped, Sam groaned.

'Oh sir, what's that on the window?'

It was just loud enough for Sam and Elvis to hear, but it was Penny who said it, and there wasn't really anything on the window, she was just giving Elvis time to get away from the glass before Steele saw him. Elvis quickly ducked away from the glass and took the cup of tea that Sam offered him.


	2. Chapter 2: First Sign Of A Lie

**Sorry it's been so long, between illnesses and not being able to find my charger I didn't really get a chance to update. Anyway, I hope to update more often now, if you like or have any tips concerning my story, then please review!**

The three firefighters walked across the yard towards Venus. Penny was going back to Newtown and would return a couple of weeks later. Steele wanted her to come on the morning of the twenty-fourth, but Station Officer Owens ('He's the Station Officer in Newtown' Penny had explained to a confused Elvis) had given her the morning off for a hairdressers appointment - Sam guessed she was getting it trimmed, she was always brushing it out of her eyes - so they agreed that she would come the afternoon of the same day. Station Officer Steele still wouldn't say what it was they were talking about in his office, and every time Elvis tried to quietly ask Penny about it, Steele would catch him. Penny had advised him not to mention it until they were outside, her reason being that Steele would soon get even angrier with Elvis, and nobody wanted to see that.

Elvis was currently telling Penny about a new recipe he'd found online and was planning to make for her when she next visited, Penny seemed to be conducting a polite way to decline his offer - Elvis was known for his bad meals, but no one had the heart to say that to his face. Penny was just about hit Elvis with her excuse, but her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and her face fell. Sam glanced over her shoulder to see who the caller was. The name read 'Daniel Lloyd', with no picture. Penny declined the call, 'I'll call him back when I get home' She told them, opening Venus's door and chucking her phone into the passenger seat. 'Who was it?' Elvis asked curiously 'No one important' Penny replied quickly, a little to quickly, Sam thought. Elvis didn't seem to notice though, he just continued to tell Penny about his new recipe. But Penny wasn't listening, she looked nervous, scared Sam thought. 'Elvis, I really should get going, I'm stopping off at Bronwen's on the way back' Penny hastily interrupted him 'Oh, okay' Elvis replied, looking a little hurt, but it was the kind of hurt Sam knew would go away within a matter of seconds. Penny's ringtone started to play again, Sam looked over to the passenger seat to see if it was the same guy, and it was. Penny reached over the gears to grab her phone, when she saw who it was she seemed to hesitate, then declined the call. 'Penny, who is it that keeps calling you?' Sam asked suspiciously as Penny sat down in the drivers seat. 'Just...uh' Penny stuttered, looking down towards her left, ' _first sign of a lie_ ' Sam remembered his mother telling him when he was younger. 'Well, its um... My Dad! Yeah, my Dad keeps calling me, he's just being a worry pot, you know? Dads are like that aren't they?' She replied with a nervous laugh, Sam raised his eyebrow, and Elvis was starting to catch on to the fact that something was off. Penny coughed, 'Well... I need to go, see you on soon!' She slammed the door shut, and began reversing Venus out of the driveway. The two firefighters waved at their friend, and Penny waved back for a second before driving away.

'Hey Elvis" Sam said as the pair watched Venus drive into the town, 'Yeah?" Elvis replied, still waving even though Venus was almost out of sight. 'Is it just me, or was Penny acting a little...' 'Strange? yes a bit' Elvis finished for him, 'Maybe she was just embarrassed' He suggested innocently, but Sam wasn't convinced. 'Yeah...' he agreed suspiciously, but he had a feeling that Penny was not embarrassed by her so-called Dad...

...

'Morning Sam!' Bronwen greeted as the tall, ginger firefighter opened the cafe door. He looked over to see the blonde woman behind the counter and fiddling with the radio and waved. The radio soon began to broadcast the news, but it was very quiet, and neither of them was listening. 'Cuppa?' she asked and Sam nodded, 'That would be wonderful Bronwen' Bronwen began busying herself by the kettle 'Anything interesting that happen at work?' She asked. Sam thought, 'A few' he replied, 'Well?' Charlie, who was sitting down at one of the tables reading, asked. Sam sat down. 'Well this morning, Elvis, Penny and I had to rescue Trevor from a tree' He chuckled 'Apparently he was trying to get Rosa down for Bella, but she jumped down when he got up!' He laughed, as did Charlie. Bronwen opened the drawer to get a tea bag out. 'What else?' Charlie asked curiously, seeing a grin on his brother's face. Sam smiled, 'We've got a new recruit for the fire station' He told them, grinned from ear to ear. Bronwen gasped, 'Really?!' She and asked, Charlies book was shoved to the side, forgotten. Sam was grinning 'Yes, Station Officer Steele told us at lunchtime, but he wouldn't say who it was' He replied. 'Oooooh, I wonder who it could be?' Bronwen asked excitedly

'Why wouldn't Station Officer Steele tell you who it was?' Charlie asked his brother, who shrugged 'I don't know, all he said was "I think you'll quite like them"' He told him. He then chuckled softly, 'Elvis was so excited he knocked over a chair' Charlie and Bronwen both laughed. 'Well this is very exciting! Bronwen grinned, 'I'll need to make something for their arrival!' She decided happily, Charlie smiled 'You do that, love' he turned back to Sam. 'So, anything else happen at work?' He asked. Sam thought for a moment, wondering whether or not to tell them about Penny's strange phone call. 'Was it a hard day Sam? Because Penny came in earlier looking very stressed'  
'Stressed? Bronwen, love, she was more than stressed!' Charlie exclaimed, leaning over the back of his chair to look at his wife, 'She looked like someone had just shown her a decapitated head!'  
Charlie turned to look at Sam. 'You didn't see a decapitated head at work, right?' He asked nervously, Sam chuckled and shook his head, 'No, but Penny _was_ acting strangely before she left' He told them. Bronwen looked concerned, she had become rather fond of the small blonde firefighter, as had her children, Sarah and James, as Penny would often take them out for dinner or movies, and on one occasion she had helped them fly a toy aeroplane. 'In what way?' Bronwen asked, she seemed to have abandoned the kettle and had left to its own accord. 'Some guy kept calling her, and she wouldn't answer. When Elvis and I asked about it, she said it was her Dad, but she sounded really panicky' He told them. 'Who could it have been?' Charlie wondered out loud to no one in particular. 'The name said 'Daniel Lloyd', I managed to see it over her shoulder' Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment, but his expression changed and Sam guessed he'd decided that whatever idea he'd had wasn't plausible.

'Bronwen, love, the kettle!' Charlie said suddenly, pointing towards the steaming kettle, and Bronwen rushed over. Sam rolled his eyes and laughed softly - of course that happened.


End file.
